The Space Between

Alice Lightfoot is far too young to be a widow and a grandmother. Perhaps she'd been too young to be a wife, although she was happy enough at the time. Now, nearly three years after her husband's death, the world suddenly seems to be changing. Her daughter expects Alice's life to revolve around her grandchild, Lily, and everyone else seems to think that Alice must be looking for a new husband - after all, she's such a WIFE. There doesn't seem to be space to decide what Alice wants for herself: does she want a man around, or would independence give her the full life she craves? Alice is a woman at a turning-point, coming out from the protection of a long marriage into the hurly-burly of the wider world. She has far-reaching choices to make and the seriously unexpected to face...

A beautifully written tale ... 4 Stars WOMAN'S OWN
One hallmark of a Billington book is elegant, apparently effortless plotting. ... THE SPACE BETWEEN, told with wit and insight, leaves an overall effect that is light but never lightweight INDEPENDENT
Billington's perceptive portrait of the complications of modern life is a Jane Austen for the 21st century GOOD BOOK GUIDE
This is a good story, told by a sympathetic, compassionate and wise writer ... this leaves one full of admiration for the author: she is in the front rank of those who write of women's lives THE TABLET
Despite its pacy and occasionally steamy content, this is a quaint, laid-back novel perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon YOU MAGAZINE
When the denouement finally comes, with bullets and literal cliffhangers, I was unaccountably reminded of hours of enjoyment reading about the famous five on Kirrin Island, although Rachel Billington's heroine has graduated from lashings of ginger beer to glasses of champagne and from egg sandwiches to seabass. Nevertheless, the same sense of enjoyment in both skullduggery and the good things in life remain SPECTATOR

Rachel Billington has published seventeen novels and eight books for children, as well as several non-fiction works. She is also a regular journalist, feature writer and reviewer. She is co-editor of Inside Time, the national newspaper for prisoners and a Vice-President of English PEN. She has four children and four grandsons and lives in London and Dorset.

Alice Lightfoot is far too young to be a widow and a grandmother. Perhaps she'd been too young to be a wife, although she was happy enough at the time. Now, nearly three years after her husband's death, the world suddenly seems to be changing. Her daughter expects Alice's life to revolve around her grandchild, Lily, and everyone else seems to think that Alice must be looking for a new husband - after all, she's such a WIFE. There doesn't seem to be space to decide what Alice wants for herself: does she want a man around, or would independence give her the full life she craves? Alice is a woman at a turning-point, coming out from the protection of a long marriage into the hurly-burly of the wider world. She has far-reaching choices to make and the seriously unexpected to face...

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